The Blog

The Daily Texture for 02/23/2016​At Rivers End

Today's Daily Texture is a soothing, dramatic water scene. I paired this texture with one of the absolute worst photos I've taken of one of our eagles fishing. After sitting for hours in the rain beside the river getting nothing but far away fishing shots, I glanced up only to see the eagle had just come down right beside us and caught a fish, and was already flying away. Yep, right outside the truck window...and I missed it! She snuck in from behind, and I never saw her until this moment. So much for the up close fishing shot I was after. Anyway, I still wanted to record this moment a bit more "attractively", so once again, it was a texture to the rescue!

I masked away all of the eagle's background and fiddled with her coloring and sharpness {which was a major job considering the horrible lighting and rain}. Then I placed a duplicate of the texture layer on top and set it to soft light at 100%. This gave the art more color, contrast and drama. And then I realized it would be nice to place her reflection in the water, so I duplicated the eagle layer, flipped it, moved it down, made it a little smaller, faded it out, and then blurred it just to create a hint of reflection under her. Now one of my worst photos has become a work of art, all thanks to this texture. And my missed shot doesn't seem quite as bad now. :)

BLOG Categories

In most of my videos, I use older software which I've used for years. Unfortunately, the software I use isn't being sold anymore.

Many of you have asked me to teach in Photoshop -- but I am just learning myself in that software.

In my learning, I have discovered the best Photoshop training on the planet, and I have secured a special offer on this same training JUST FOR YOU! Click the button below to learn from my same trainer, and to save a HUGE amount on this lifetime access course: